[Pokémon] Olivine Adventures

[Executive Proton]

A Jasmine x OC fic in the mildest sense

Rated T for now, but depending on the direction I take it, it's subject to go up or down.

(author's notes in Courier)

I've been working on a ROM hack of Fire Red under the same title, but I wanted to give fanfiction a shot to not only improve my own writing abilities, but to share my stories with those who don't want to download and play the hacks.

I appreciate and look forward to all criticism -- and thanks to everyone who decides to read. This first chapter is a bit heavy, but I figured it was the best way to describe the OC. Please bear with me :)

CHAPTER 1:
CORRESPONDENCE​

Dear Rainier,


It's been a long time, hasn't it? I would have tried to contact you earlier, but with you on your travels, and with my inability to use Pokegear (I've just never gotten the hang of it, silly me) it's been difficult. I'm sorry.


But how are things? I'm doing alright over here. I'm sure Sabrina or Volkner must have told you about my promotion to Gym Leader... I was so surprised when they asked me! And they even made me the leader of the Olivine Gym! Would you believe it? Me being the Gym Leader of our hometown? It's such a silly, irrational thing – life, I mean.


I hope you get this message soon – I'm forwarding it to Volkner. I'm quite sure he'll be able to find you – he's quite a speedy fellow, but you know that... I wouldn't bother him with something as silly as a correspondence letter, but this is important, at least I think so...


You remember Zoe...? Of course you remember Zoe... We've traveled so much together it's impossible not to, ha ha. But Rainer, I've got bad news – I've lost track of her. We used to write so many letters to each other after she settled down in Goldenrod – it seems like we've both become writers now. What was that book that you enjoyed so much – was it "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea?"? We must have written as many words to each other as in that book.


I stopped getting letters from her about a month ago. It was right about the time that Team Rocket started cracking down more forcefully on Goldenrod. It's awful, Rainier, I've heard the horror stories from refugees. I'm worried about her. The school there. I can't imagine no news from her being so good – you even said she was the most talkative girl in the world... They just took Ecruteak City as well, Team Rocket. I don't dare leave Olivine now. They might attack. No, they will attack, I think. Soon.


So I'm asking you, Rainier, could you take a little break from your travels and come back to Olivine for a little while? I'm sure your mother misses you. Well, I know that she misses you, ha, ha. I go see her every so often. I wish I had a mother like her, I really do. Did I ever tell you how wonderful she is? Ha, ha. I'm sure I did when we were younger. She says that she can't believe we're both seventeen now! How silly, because when you think of it, our whole life's still ahead of us, isn't it?


Oh, and if you can, could you bring your Umbreon and Espeon as well...? It's been so long since I've seen them! Don't go out of your way of course, (well more out of your way, ha ha) but if you can...


Your Friend,
Jasmine

* * *​

It had been almost three years since Rainier had seen Johto. He had a fair deal of adventures there when he was a kid. He had spent the better part of two years with Jasmine when they had initially started their adventure. And of course, he had lived in Olivine City with his childhood friend ever before the two went on their merry little escapade through the region.

So when the boat sped ever closer to sunny Olivine Harbor, he did feel a tinge of nostalgia. Working for the league in Sinnoh certainly had its advantages, but it wasn't his home, by any means. He tried his best to be a man without a country, but a little bit of his heart always was stuck throwing rocks at the Tentacools at Olivine Beach, while sitting in the shadow of the Battle Tower so that he wouldn't get sunburned in the summer sun. Or his childish masking of his naiveté when he began his adventure. He knew better, now. For all his knowledge, he had learned that there's no such thing as being fully experienced in anything. Including Pokemon. So now, he did the best he could – claim no knowledge at all. Or so he tried. A facade of smugness often got in the way.

That was another aspect of Johto that never really left him. A certain aloofness that he had adopted at the beginning of his early adolescent travelings. He thought it would serve him better, a newbie with an attitude, a chip on his shoulder. He was stripped of the illusion that such an attitude contributed positively to his appearance, but he kept it like a bad habit. With the help of this attitude, he had given a few looks to girls on the ship that could be considered a bit... harsh. But it wasn't because he was inherently mean, he just wasn't interested in them, really. He liked girls, too – they weren't just his type, he figured. "Best keep them at arms length" was his motto when traveling. And he applied that ideal to just about everyone he met, not just wannabe suitors.

Perhaps, apart from his friendship with the equally cold Sabrina, and (oddly enough) the energetic ball of electricity that was Volkner, he really didn't have much companionship upon leaving Johto. Not that it was catastrophic – he wasn't the individual who needed to be constantly communicating as if it was his last conversation on Earth – like Zoe.

He had mixed feelings on seeing her again. Jasmine tends to misinterpret people's feelings, he thought. Not that traveling with Zoe wasn't a unique experience, but... He was returning to please Jasmine, really, his best friend, through and through. But the prospect of seeing Jasmine even gave him a weak stomach. It had been so long since they had gone out and collected badges together, like, well, kids. Would she still be the same? This thought plagued him, if only because he wanted it to be so. Was it so wrong for him to wish it was the same? He could deal with different settings, different people, so long as he wasn't particularly attached to them. It was no issue for him to go and leave as he pleased so long as he wasn't leaving anything behind.

That was why he left Johto in the first place. Jasmine was traveling the world before she decided upon her career path. She wanted to go alone. It was something that she needed to decide for herself, she said. He respected her a lot for that. So much so that he imitated her. He left. For Hoenn, Kanto, and then Sinnoh, in that order. He had done reasonably well in the tournaments. His aloof nature and quiet strength endeared him to many trainers, mostly female. He was reasonably handsome, even though he oft made the dirty joke that he wasn't particularly well-endowed. This rumor has yet to be confirmed, they say.

* * *​

He was so lost in thought that Olivine's pristine beaches almost past by his departed gaze. He did catch a glimpse of those virgin sands, however, and the sentimentality of it all really began to hit him hard. He figured he would just be able to get on shore before he turned into a big ball of warm, cuddly, nostalgic mush. The thought of saving face by just waiting for the boat to cast back to Sinnoh crossed his mind, but he couldn't live with himself afterward. He didn't have the intestinal fortitude to turn back on his home.​

The lighthouse now came into his view. Well, the bottom half, anyway. He craned his neck to see its apex. He wondered if Jasmine still went there everyday. They used to check on the Ampharos up there when they were kids. He wondered if Amphy was still alive, the old bag. The townsfolk said he was old when they went up there to visit it as kids. He remembered his mother, under the implication that the two were making out or making love up there, stalked them to the very top of the tower. She was laughed at by the trainers and sailors who hung around there. When she saw that the two were petting the old, blind Ampharos instead of each other, everyone had a good laugh.​

There were too many memories here, Rainier thought. His childhood was sneaking up on him, kicking him when he was down. He needed something to take his mind off things. He was crumbling already. He thought that he sensed a tear welling in his right eye--​

"We've reached Olivine Harbor. All passengers please gather your belongings. The boat will be casting off at seven PM tonight for Vermillion."​

He didn't need to gather his belongings. Everything he needed was in his backpack, the ideal way to travel when abroad. If you're attached to an object that you can't carry around in a bag, you don't own it, it owns you. Nothing owns me, Rainier thought smugly. He would've liked to say, Nothing or No one but he would be lying to himself. He had no issues with lying to others to get his way (he was bad like that, he truly was) but he had a prohibition against conditioning himself to untruths.​

His plan was to linger about on the ship for a little while (lest he seem too eager to return home) but the screaming coming from the pier threw a cog in his usually well-oiled thinking processes. He had the sort of morbid curiosity that would draw him over to such an event almost unconsciously, and he found himself at the exit ramp of the ship. There was a sailor grappling with a black-clad, whist a family of five, ( a couple and their three young kids) were making a big fuss of another one confiscating their luggage. He knew who those thugs associated themselves with.​

They shouldn't be here. Team Rocket, in his Olivine?​

"I'd advise you two to stop what you're doing."​

That was his pretentious way of telling the Rockets to cut it out. It was his facade bubbling up again. His smug, matter-of-fact way of telling the thugs that they were cruising for a bruising.​

"What are you gonna do about it, kid?"​

He was seventeen years old now, for Arceus's sake. Was he still just a kid?​

"I've played the game before, guys."​

Was his next non-committal statement.​

"Oh really, let's see how good you are, then." Said the Rocket, who threw the luggage he had been pilfering into the bay. That really set him off.​

"Fine with me. Let's take this off the pier, though." He'd rather not risk falling into the water himself.​

Rainier wasn't a white knight by any means – mistake him for that and he'd get as heated as the fires of hell. He just had a thing... against people being bullied. It stemmed from his childhood, when....​

No. I'm not getting into that now. There's a time for sentimentality a time for fighting.​

Or, as Birch told him,​

That's no time to be doing that!​

His causal way of stepping of the gangplank and onto the pier caused the other Rocket and sailor to cease their wrestling. A temporary ceasefire had been called, it seemed. The family's attention was caught between Rainier's heroism and their valuables sitting in the bay. Rainier got where they were coming from.​

"Heh. You're marching right into your own defeat kid!" The gangly, wrestler Rocket said, dismissively. "If you put up a fight, we might even pilfer your Pokemon! Still wanna battle?"​

He had been through the song and dance before. Criminal activity was everywhere. Mind you, it wasn't always as organized or as effective as Team Rocket, but he had beaten these thugs before. They were all the same to him, the grunts. He actually had a lot of respect for the Team at its upper levels. He had quite the challenge when he battled one of their administrators ages ago. He could even get past the "stealing Pokemon" part if they weren't picking on the downtrodden. As it has been said before, he was no White Knight. A Gray Knight, perhaps. But not a white one.​

"How's this, kid?" The Rocket who he had challenged inquired. They were sading in the Harbor Station. It was a large, spacious hall, adorned with seats on its walls, but its center was a large, open atrium, perfect for regulation (even if impromptu) combat.​

"Fine with me."​

"Shall we go, then?"​

"Let's."​

* * *​

Truth be told, it was over in a matter of minutes. The Rocket, who fashioned himself to be a double battler (that was the rage in Johto, now, double battling. Everyone did it, but there were few who actually did it successfully.) He preformed rather admirably, for a Rocket. No 'Rats or 'Bats here. He sent out a Beedrill and a Furret. Not Elite Four Material, but certainly enough to thug it up rather successfully. Not that he didn't deal with them easily. His Umbreon and Espeon worked well in unison. Not that he needed to even consider the plan of attack much. He would deliver two hay-makers and then be on his merry way.​

It almost went according to his strategy. The powerful psychic attack he called on his Espeon to deliver wiped out the Beedrill in the opening move of the match. The biting that Umbreon laid on Furret was not a one-hit-KO, however. The Rocket, who was a bit wounded at the immediate loss of his Beedrill recovered quickly enough to quip that his Furret was in the "top percentage". It really didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. The fury swipes that it delivered were easily taken by Umbreon, who, speaking mildly, was a tank. It didn't even blink an eye. And then, with a rapidly delivered Psychic beam, the Furret was offed as well.​

"Well I wasn't expecting a kid like yourself to be so powerful."​

"I took it easy on ya."​

"I'll know better next time."​

Generally, those were the responses he got from a Rocket, or any wrong-doer, for that matter, that Rainier was compelled enough to challenge and defeat. This Rocket surprised him in saying:​

"Well, it's not like we don't have the whole damned country in our hands, anyway."​

Rainier had been away for a long time, indeed.​

Such a statement deserved a line of questioning, in Rainier's view. He was not one for current events (history was more his cup of tea) but he would have heard about the whole region being in-- oh wait. He did hear it. From Jasmine, in her letter. That's why he was here... the nostalgia must be getting to him.​

As he was quietly thinking (whist the defeated Rocket was staring off in dejected defeat), a massive boulder was hurled through the wall of the harbor building facing the city. It slowed enough to just form a massive dent in the other wall across the hall. Then Rainier realized that it was a Graveler, not a boulder. A massive steel tail followed in its stead, crashing into what remained of the wall, taking the whole side of the building off. He saw that the damage was dealt from a Steelix.​

He had seen only one Steelix that had a penchant to so much collateral damage –- and he wasn't at all surprised when its owner stepped out from behind it with a look of utter shock and concern.​

"Rainier?!" She asked, apprehension obvious and tangible in her shrill voice.​

"I'm not late, am I?" He responded.​

 

[Executive Proton]

CHAPTER 2:
TENSIONS​

I'm not sure what to think of you, Volkner.


You remind me of a matured version of Zoe. Well, there's the gender difference, too.


I imagine Jasmine must have told you when she spoke to you.


I think that our tension that revolves around talking to you and Zoe is that you two are so normal.


Zoe was like that, a peppy thirteen year old who chose to be the third member on the little adventure myself and Jasmine went on several years ago. We certainly didn't make overtures to her. She latched onto us when she heard about our back-to-back defeats of Whitney. Zoe was in school at the time, but she desired what we had – a life on the road, and adventure. But by no means did she wish to do it alone. Her friends, she told us later, loved Goldenrod for its mall, parties and buzz of being the most prominent city in the region. So she confronted us as we exited the city.


"I heard about you guys, like, wrecking Whitney!"


"Um..." Jasmine was always so shy around those who were so forward.


"I suppose we did." I was always so cold around those who were so forward.


"You guys are some of the coolest trainers I've seen around here! Where are ya going next?"


"Um..." (Thankfully, she's gotten a bit better with people, now)


"Ecruteak." (I'm not sure how much better I've gotten with people, though)


"You're going to challenge Morty?! Wow! I heard he's, like, serious business-- not like Whitney!


"Well..."


"He's the next gym leader, so..."


"COULD I COME WITH YOU GUYS?" She tended to speak with a lot of emphasis.


"...! Uhhh...." Jasmine never liked loud people. Speaking emphatically got to her back then.


"No." I never liked loud people because I find their emphasis superfluous.

"BUT WHHYYY NOT?" She also liked to extend her vowels as well, ha ha.


"R-Rainier...." But for whatever reason, Jasmine seemed like she wanted to give it a try.


"Because I'm not sure it's particularly safe to travel with a stranger." The madder I got, the more pretentious language I would use. I'm not one to show anger, I think – it's more through my words. I still find such a sentence being spoken by a thirteen year old bordering on fiction, farce, even. It's just how I was, and probably still am.

When I think of you, the parallels are certainly there; insofar as you're a conventional individual, if a bit energetic like her, who somehow attached yourself to misanthropic me and timid Jasmine. We're two of a kind, we really are. Two old people in young bodies, by my estimation. I've been told that an entire life awaits us, but something tells me that the two of us are reaching its climax, if we aren't already spiraling towards its denouement.


That letter you gave to me implored me to return to Johto. I'm going to see her again, Volkner. If nothing happens, which I genuinely think will occur, by all means, don't let me stop you. Once this whole affair in Johto is over, I plan on going, far, far away. To Orre or Isshu if need be. I've got too many mixed emotions here. If I don't see, write, or hear from you again, let me now wish you the best of luck.
I think, though, when all is said and done, I see you as a friend. I'm quite sure Jasmine does too.


Yours Truly,
Rainier

* * *​

The preceding letter reached Sunnyshore City right around the same time Rainier reached Olivine.​

Rainier would never return to his home in Sinnoh.​

* * *​

Jasmine's look of concern managed to touch the depths Rainier's heart, like it always did, and probably always would do. He hated that look of sadness on the features of his childhood friend, he truly did. It reminded him of her difficult childhood.​

"Are you okay, Rainier?!"​

"Just fine. I took care of this Rocket on the pier as well."​

"Oh, gosh, are they on the boat, too?"​

"Now that you mention it, there was one on the pier as well..."​

A muffled grunt could be heard in the background. The grunt came from the grunt, so to speak, and in the corner of Rainier's eye, past the large door that led to the pier, he could see some of the sailors restraining the other Rocket and throwing him down to the planks of the peer.​

"Actually, I think the sailors took care of him." Rainier noted.​

"Oh, good..."​

"So I guess I'm a bit late, then, huh?"​

"Um..."​

"It's okay, I'm always tardy to parties, it seems."​

"No!" She said with sudden emotion, "Don't think that... I... I wanted to have them beat before you came. I hoped they would have come earlier..."​

"Jas, you don't need to worry about me."​

It had been two years since he called her by name.
"Sorry. But the rest of them are being taken care of, I think. The police are taking care of the rest outside the city. A few sneaked in last night, though."​

"Well, it doesn't look like they did much harm."​

"No..."​

Jasmine seemed to take the statement as a statement critical of the way she dealt with the Graveler. The Graveler, the poor thing, had been used a decoy to distract the police long enough for the Rocket to get away. Having her Steelix iron tail the Pokemon into submission might have been a bit harsh. And then there was the destruction of the Harbor Station's wall. Jasmine had a knack for unintentionally damaging things. This was a case-in-point.​

"Are you alright, Jasmine?"​

She looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes. At first they hinted sadness, but then, as if by whim, they brightened. Rainier then noticed how pretty she had become. Jasmine was by no means drop-dead beautiful. She was no fashion queen like the contest divas nor did she have the face of the actresses or make-up queens he knew from Goldenrod. Her face radiated natural beauty, an earthy sort of beauty. Her fair skin and tan hair complemented each other perfectly, and the fancy little clips and arrangement she put her hair (she hadn't changed that hairstyle in years, Rainier said he liked it once) were pretty but not at all distracting. She had longer legs. Her clothing radiated simplistic attractiveness. A simple white and sky-blue colored sun dress with the bow on her chest. The bow was a rather recent addition, he thought. Maybe she donned it for special occasions.​

She then got close to him, and clasping her arms close to her breast (a habit she did often). She asked, now looking away from him in timidity.
"Um... Do you want to see my Gym, Rainier?"​

Rainier was shocked.​

She didn't look him the eye just then.​

She had never done that to him before.​

She did that with other people. People who weren't named Rainier and hadn't been the closest of friends. Had he been gone for so long? She had been cautious in conversation, as well, Rainier thought.​

Rainier then noticed – she had changed – in subtle ways, of course, a few inches taller, the bow on her dress, little things like that. His worst fears had been realized – things had indeed changed. What was he going to do about it? Those thoughts crippled him as he followed Jasmine back into town.​

* * *​

Oh gosh, I made a fool of myself back there.​

I almost killed him when I commanded Steelix to use Iron Tail...​

I had no idea what to say what to him... I had prepared my lines, but...​

I couldn't even look him in the eye when I asked him if I wanted to see the Gym...​

And now I'm leading him around like he doesn't know the place himself...​

He looked so much like he did when we were fifteen. That was the statement that kept running through her mind when he first saw her. He still had the same messy hair, wore the same brand of hat, the same kind of long-sleeve rugby shirt, the same straight jeans and desert boots. He was taller, a little more muscular, and had a more masculine chin, now. Those were the only differences, but she was still looking at the same Rainier, it seemed. And that was what scared her. Could they still act on the same terms?​

She wondered if she looked different. She realized that she was taller, her legs had gotten longer, and her hips were a bit more womanly, but... how did he see her? That's what she wanted to know, really. She had been so comfortable with him before, because she was with him all the time. He would never hurt her. Ever. He had promised her that long ago. But did that mean anything after their separation? Did he have a girl in Sinnoh? Did he still care about her?​

He never said all that much. Sure, he didn't stutter and stammer, instead he used big words and cold stares that said nothing at all. She knew that he was shy, like her. Was he still shy? She couldn't get a good grasp of things, yet. She never really had a good sense of such things in the first place. All she knew now was that he was following her down Olivine's main strip to the Gym. To her Gym. They were silent the entire way. Jasmine glanced behind her a few times. Rainier was looking around at his home. She thought she saw a content smile on his face. She smiled the rest of the short walk to the Gym, knowing that her best friend was home again, and most importantly, happy.​

When they arrived at the Gym, Jasmine noticed that Rainier was eying a bit differently. It had gotten larger. Or at least when the Gym was redone, the foreman told Jasmine so. He certainly hadn't gotten smaller. The exterior was plated with steel. Her name was at the top of the door. She just realized that the moniker was sitting there, plain to see. "The Iron Mistress" it read. Rainier repeated the words aloud, as if trying out a new name.​

He then looked down to see Jasmine facing him, blushing wildly.​

"What's wrong, Iron Mistress?" He inquired mischievously. Jasmine knew that he was being playful, but it still got her embarrassed.​

"I-I didn't come up with it myself!" She blurted out, a lot more emphatically. Her face was probably completely red. She felt the hotness in her cheeks reaching a boil. The fact that she didn't choose the name herself was the truth, however.​

"Whatever you say, Iron Mistress."​

"It was silly Lance who came up with that!" She said. She knew she was losing control of her emotions, but she always got so snappy when she was being prodded. The old Rainier knew how to push her buttons, and make her get all flustered. She remembered that he would do things like this on occasion, and the laughs they would share afterwards. She began to calm considerably. She relaxed when she saw Rainier's smile. She had been looking down throughout her whole yelling episode, she realized. She usually never did that when talking to Rainier...​

Why was she so embarrassed around him, now?​

"It's a nice looking place, Jasmine." He finally said. She might start blushing again. She got like that whenever someone prodded her or flattered her. Rainier was doing a fair share of both, it seemed. After composing herself once more, she invited him in. When they went in, he noticed that it's interior wasn't particularly different from the old Gym. It still had the earthy tone and stone-colored tiles.​

"You said they rebuilt the place?"​

"I didn't have a design preference." she said deferentially.​

Jasmine looked at Rainier. He was absorbed in checking out her digs.​

"Are you living upstairs like the Stone did?" He asked.​

"Oh, no... I'm... um not living upstairs..."​

"So where are you staying?" he asked casually.​

She'd rather not tell him yet. Not that she didn't want him to come over, just that he might... not react to it well. Then, she was saved by passing thought.​

"Did you want to see your Parents, Rainer?"​